After the calamitous debacle of the Equine Flu Epidemic, resulting in the cancellation of the Horse show in 2008, we were looking forward to the 2009 Show, which proved to be our best ever, with new attractions and most of the old ones which were smartened up for more impact!

The great attractions which filled the gaps last year were retained for 2009 and with some hindsight and experience as to what worked, we were able to make the Friday Show Day a fun filled and educational day for the five schools who visited us for some or most of the day.

Avoca, Burrawang, Glenquarry, Kangaloon, Robertson Public Schools and The Southern Highlands Christian School all visited us and were well involved with Potato & Spoon and Potato Sack Races, Throw the Tatie and various other activities centred on the humble "spud". Our grateful Thanks must go to Monica Engels from the Robertson CTC, who organised and devised the events, as well as her great band of hard working Volunteers who helped with the events with such enthusiasm and energy!! Mention must also go to Warwick Vyner, who came back for another dose of fun after last years exhausting day!

The children were also treated to Nick Rhienberger playing his guitar for a community sing-a-long with "Click Go The Shears" having loosened the vocal chords with Bruce Johnson beforehand for the entertainment of the Show Patrons! Michael Cabban brought his coloured sheep along to demonstrate sheep shearing, the new and old ways, with sheep dog displays as well, much to the consternation of the Show Jumpers, who tended to be a little wary of their smaller "woolly jumpers" counterparts. Displays of different breeds of sheep and samples of wool were also to hand. The Stationary Engines were fired up to demonstrate how it was done in the "Olden Days" and groups were taken through the Pavilion to see the many diverse exhibits, especially their own efforts in the School Art & Craft Sections. They were also involved with craft events in the Pavilion.

Despite the very high temperatures in the weeks preceding the show, therefore knocking out most of the 100 or dahlia entries we usually receive, the Pavilion was better than ever. We had record, high quality entries (over 2250 individual exhibits) in all sections, not taking into account the many hundreds of school entries which are too numerous to count. Potatoes featured well this year because of the efforts of the Donovan Brothers, who supplied many local home growers with seed potatoes earlier in the season, which paid dividends, as many of those recipients successfully grew and exhibited their results.

A new Cheese Making Section was introduced this year, Sponsored by Small Cow Farm, Robertson, which exceeded all expectations. Mark & Lesley Williams from the Small Cow Farm, expected between 15 - 20 entries, which was far surpassed by the 67 we received! Many entries came from previous students at their cheese making schools, but there were also others from further afield, many self taught. Judge Nick Pados from Slow Foods was most impressed with the quantity and quality and Robertson is one of only a handful of small agricultural shows to host such a competition. This event will definately be repeated!

The Pavilion Stewards along with their Chief, Mrs K Wood and Assistant Ted Ross, are to be thanked for their hard work in staging such a brilliant display. The fact that we received pavilion entries from such widely diverse areas as the South Coast, Southern Tablelands, Sydney, Queensland and Victoria testifies to the high reputation of our show.

Poultry featured again in yet another "home" but this is the last move. Thanks to Doug Stratford, our new Trust President,and his offsider, Doug Andrews, the old cattle shed has been rejuvenated, strengthened and is the perfect home for the "chooks". Numbers were down on previous years, but again, this reflected the adverse weather conditions, many of the exhibits not reaching their peak.

The Berrima District Old Machinery Club club turned out in force on both Friday and Saturday, with a large and very popular display, including many tractors in working condition, and all sorts of machinery, tools and various work implements. There were also two displays of new machinery from local distributors and it's great to be getting back to shows where we can see machinery diplayed as many of the older people remember from earlier years. A new entertainment was the Reptile Man, with interesting facts and deadly reptiles. This was extremely well viewed by the crowd with patrons three and four deep around the stand for most of the day.

Innovations to the Lawn Mower Races were a great fun event, staged by the ShowMow Team, who thrilled the crowd with speeds and manouvres never to be attempted by Mum whilst mowing the back yard!

One of the many highlights of Saturday was the opening of the newly named "Hindmarsh Pavilion" by Catherine Hurford, assisted by her mother, Fiona Hindmarsh. Catherine is a direct descendant and seventh generation of the first Hindmarsh family to settle in the district. This Family has been involved with Robertson Show since its inception as the Burrawang Farmers Club in 1878. Although we have no "Hindmarshes" on our committee, many members are descended from this extended family! The first Robertson show to be held on its present site was on land leased to the Society by the Hindmarsh Family, who subsequently sold it to the Lands Dept. to be held in trust as our showground.

Another highlight was the announcing of the 2009 Robertson Showgirl, Jessica Maloney, and runner-up, Amy Stratford. Congratulations to these two girls, and best wishes to Jessica who will attend the Zone Land Showgirl Competition in 2010. We had six entrants this year, all local girls and all extremely worthy of the title, giving the judges a difficult choice.

A special vote of thanks must go to all our great volunteers in so many areas, especially those who man the gates and the barbecue. These two jobs are fairly thankless, involving a lot of time and hard work, but without their input we would not be able to run such a great show. This year the work of the gate people, expertly run by Bernie Masters (aka "The Fuhrer" so dubbed by those cheeky broadcast boys!) was made even harder, due to many of the workers attending a local wedding as well as capacity crowds. We can't thank you all enough for your hours of toil in the sun and heat.

The day ended with a great Demo Derby and fireworks which seemed even better than lasy year.

We have a small but extremely enthusiastic committee and Showground Trust, who work tirelessly during the year to maintain the grounds and traditions of our show and I sincerely thank them. The most outstanding of these is our lovely Secretary Leesa Stratford. Not only does she run a home and family, but works and still manages to keep us on track, even to the extent of coercing husband, children and parents to help! What a woman!

One of our most dedicated workers, Ken Sharpe, has retired from active service due to a serious health setback, but thankfully is on the mend again. Ken has worked tirelessly for the Society and the Trust for over 40 years and I would personally like to express my thanks not only for his support and help in sometimes trying times, but also for his great friendship and common sense and I know I speak for many, many others as well. His shoes will be very hard to fill, but he is still around to continue his support of the Show in a less strenuous role.

We're now planning next year's show!

Thank you all for coming and being such great show patrons, members, volunteers and supporters.

We wouldn't be the great show we are without you all, see you next year.

Rosemary Turner, President